Galway Bay fm newsroom - The CT scanner at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe has been out of action for over 400 hours over the past two years due to breakdown.
The figure was revealed at this week's meeting of the Health Forum West, which heard at one point, the service was unavailable for an entire week.
Figures supplied at this week's meeting showed that across 2019 and 2020, the CT scanner at Portiuncula was out of action for 424 hours.
The worst single incident was in August 2020, when the service was unavailable for 144 hours.
As a result of these breakdowns, 150 elective booked appointments had to be rescheduled, and waiting times increased dependent on type of scan.
For example, routine CT thorax, abdomen, and pelvis wait times increased from 8 weeks to 13 weeks.
It was offered that CT support was provided from UHG and Roscommon University Hospital during periods of breakdown, while ultrasounds or MRI was provided in some cases instead.
The HSE added that a business case has been prepared for the replacement of the CT scanner at Portiuncula, with a capital submission to be made next year.
